Blank Sheet Music
Blank sheet music, also called staff or manuscript paper, is a page of five-line staves ready for writing music. Choose how many staves, how far apart the lines are and whether to leave a title line, and the sheet is drawn for your paper size.
Your sheet
Printing: choose Actual size or 100%, not “Fit to page”, so 1 cm prints as 1 cm. How to check.
How are the staves spaced?
Each staff is five lines, four gaps of the chosen spacing tall. The staves are spread evenly between the title line (or the top margin) and the foot margin; each sits centred in its slot.
Worked example. Ten staves with 2 mm between lines on A4 with a title line: each staff is 8 mm tall; the space from 32 mm to 283 mm is 251 mm, so each slot is 25.1 mm, leaving 17.1 mm between staves for stems, lyrics and dynamics.
Staff paper for students
Theory homework needs wide staves with room between them for labels: eight staves at 2.5 mm spacing. For composing sketches, twelve staves at 2 mm. For a notebook you will keep, print double-sided on heavy paper.
Staff paper for teaching
Six staves at 3 mm leave space to name notes, write counts under rhythms and draw pictures for the youngest players. Print in landscape for long rhythm exercises.
Grand staff and ensembles
For piano, print an even number of staves and draw the brace joining each pair; the staves are spread evenly, so mark the pairs with the brace and leave the gap between pairs for lyrics or pedal marks. For a choir or quartet, group four staves and draw a bracket down the left.
Questions about blank sheet music
How many staves should I put on a page?
Ten to twelve for a single melody line, which matches most printed music. Six to eight for beginners, for large handwriting or for teaching, where you want room to write names under notes. For piano music, use an even number and brace pairs of staves by hand.
How far apart should the staff lines be?
Printed music uses a “rastral size” of about 1.75 mm between lines (a 7 mm staff). Two millimetres, the default, is a little roomier and easier to write on by hand; 2.5 mm suits young children.
Can I add clefs or bar lines?
Not yet. The sheet is blank staves, so you can write any clef, key or time signature. A small vertical line is drawn at each end of every staff.
Is there a title line?
Yes, by default a short line at the top for the title. Untick it to use the full page for staves.
What is the difference between staff paper and manuscript paper?
None. “Manuscript paper” is the British term and “staff paper” the American one; both mean blank sheet music ruled with five-line staves.